LID.L Regulatory News (LID)

LiDCO Group Plc

("LiDCO" or the "Company")

Trading update and notice of results

LiDCO Group Plc (AIM: LID), the cardiovascular monitoring company, provides the following trading update for the full year ended 31 January 2017.

LiDCO product revenues in the period are expected to be up 14% to £6.76m (2016: £5.96m) with total revenues (including third party products) expected to be up by 8% to £8.21m (2016: £7.59m).

Overall LiDCO saw strong demand for monitors with 186 units being sold (2016: 103 units) and continued growth of smartcards up 17% to 46,580 units (2016: 39,975 units).

In the UK, LiDCO had a strong performance considering the restricted spending climate, with LiDCO product revenues expected to be up 6% to £3.79m (2016: £3.58m), consolidating its position as market leader. The total number of monitors sold and placed was similar to the previous year at 67 units with the launch of the Company's new monitor LiDCOunity enabling it to achieve a higher selling price with expected monitor revenues of £0.27m, up 13% compared to the prior year. Disposable units were up 5% to 34,450 (2016: 32,865). Sales of 3rd party products in the UK declined 11% to £1.45m (2016: £1.63m) due to intense pricing pressure.

The Company had a strong first half in the USA driven by capital sales as LiDCO won new customer business with revenues for the year expected to be up 8% to £1.15m. However, with an increasingly competitive environment, overall disposables sales declined largely due to a previously announced significant customer loss. The Company is seeing high levels of hemodynamic monitoring technology adoption in the US but the Company has recognised the challenge of operating in a highly competitive environment with a small team. The funding announced in December 2016 has enabled LiDCO to start to resource the Company adequately to generate further new customer sales and drive greater growth from this highly attractive market. Investment in sales resource in this market has commenced with the appointment of Shane Doorish as Head of North America, announced on 10 January 2017.

Overall revenues outside of the UK and US markets are expected to have grown 38% to £1.79m (2016: £1.30m) as the Company looks to continue its strategy of geographical expansion. Revenues in regions outside of its two direct markets were helped by strong sales in Japan, the Middle East and China with monitors up 82% to 120 units (2016: 66 units) and disposables up 31% to 20,645 units (2016: 15,700 units). Additional sales and marketing resources will also be made available in these distribution markets in the new financial year.

The Company was cash generative and expects to make a small profit for the year before tax and share based payments (2016: loss of £343,000 before exceptional item). The Company raised £2.79m (net of expenses) in December 2016 by way of a placing and subscriptions to accelerate growth into the US market as well as growing sales through additional resource in its other key markets. Excluding the effect of the December fund raise, net cash inflow in the year was £0.52m. The Company is debt free and year-end cash balances were £4.90m (2016: £1.59m).

The Company intends to announce its final results to 31 January 2017 on 28 March 2017.

Commenting, Matt Sassone, Chief Executive Officer of LiDCO, said: "LiDCO continues to take the right steps forward in delivering the strategic plan I outlined when becoming CEO 18 months ago. Having raised funding in December and building on this momentum, we are now entering a new phase of LiDCO's growth."

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About LiDCO Group Plc (www.lidco.com)

LiDCO is a supplier of non-invasive and minimally invasive hemodynamic equipment to hospitals used to monitor the amount of blood flowing around the body and ensure that vital organs are adequately oxygenated. LiDCO's products facilitate the application of hemodynamic optimisation protocols for high risk patients in both critical care units and in the operating theatre. 

Increasingly clinical studies are showing that the optimisation of patients' hemodynamic status in high risk patients produces better outcomes and reduced hospital stay. LiDCO's computer-based technology, developed at St Thomas' Hospital in London, has been shown to significantly reduce morbidity and complications, length of stay and overall costs associated with major surgery.

Key Products:

LiDCOunity: a hemodynamic monitor that combines the full suite of LiDCO technology (non-invasive, minimally invasive and calibrated technologies) into one platform. Designed to have the flexibility to adapt to a patient's changing acuity, the product enables clinicians to seamlessly transition between non-invasive, minimally invasive and calibrated hemodynamic monitoring.

LiDCOplus: a computer-based platform monitor used in the Intensive Care Unit for real-time continuous display of hemodynamic parameters including cardiac output, oxygen delivery and fluid-volume responsiveness (PPV% and SVV%).

LiDCOrapid: a cardiac output monitor designed specifically for use in the operating theatre for fluid and drug management. The monitor enables anaesthetists to receive accurate and immediate feedback on the patient's fluid and hemodynamic status - a key measure of overall well-being before, during and after surgery. The LiDCOrapid provides:

· early and rapid warning of hemodynamic change to aid choice of therapeutic route: fluid or drug

· quantification of hemodynamic response guidance on effective delivery of fluids to ensure the right amount at the right time

The software incorporated into LiDCOrapid allows the LiDCOrapid monitor to co-display Medtronic's level of consciousness parameter ('BISTM')* and add the convenience of CNSystem's continuous non-invasive blood pressure monitoring ('CNAP')**. This addresses a growing requirement for non-invasive monitoring solutions that are more comprehensive and can effectively replace multiple single parameter monitors. 

LiDCOview: an easy-to-use graphical display of historical LiDCOplus and LiDCOrapid hemodynamic data.

*BISTM and Bispectral Index are trademarks of Medtronic registered in the US and foreign countries.

**CNAPTM is a trademark of CNSystems Medizintechnik AG.

LiDCO monitors use single-patient disposables (sensors or smartcards) which provide an ongoing revenue stream.

LiDCO Distribution Network:

LiDCO sells directly to hospitals in the UK and USA and through a network of specialty critical care and anaesthesia distributors in the rest of the world.

LiDCO's headquarters are in London and its shares are traded on AIM.